1. Field
The present invention relates to a mobile terminal capable of displaying objects corresponding to stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) images differently from objects corresponding to two-dimensional (2D) images so that the objects corresponding to stereoscopic 3D images can be easily distinguished from the objects corresponding to 2D images and an operation control method of the mobile terminal.
2. Background
Mobile terminals are portable devices, which can provide users with various services such as a voice calling service, a video calling service, an information input/output service, and a data storage service.
As the types of services provided by mobile terminals diversify, an increasing number of mobile terminals have been equipped with various complicated functions such as capturing photos or moving pictures, playing music files or moving image files, providing game programs, receiving broadcast programs and providing wireless Internet services and have thus evolved into multimedia players.
Various attempts have been made to realize such complicated functions as hardware devices or software programs. For example, various user interface (UI) environments, in which users are allowed to easily search for and choose desired functions, have been developed. In addition, the demand for various designs for mobile terminals has steadily grown due to a growing tendency of considering mobile terminals as personal items that can represent personal individuality.
In the meantime, stereoscopic three-dimensional (3D) imaging, which is a technique of combining multiple images captured by a camera to create a stereoscopic 3D image, have recently become commonplace. When applied to mobile terminals, stereoscopic 3D imaging can allow the users to create stereoscopic 3D images using the cameras of the mobile terminals and to display various stereoscopic 3D images on the displays of the mobile terminals. Stereoscopic 3D images can be displayed on the displays of mobile terminals using various methods such as auto-stereoscopy, which is also called glasses-free 3D.
Conventionally, objects (such as thumbnails or icons) corresponding to stereoscopic 3D images are displayed in the same manner as objects corresponding to two-dimensional (2D) images. Thus, users may not be able to determine whether an image corresponding to a given object is a stereoscopic 3D image or a 2D image.
Therefore, a method is needed to help users distinguish objects corresponding to stereoscopic 3D images from objects corresponding to 2D images.